Emotional Support Pooches Take $50K Bite Out Of Brooklyn HOA's Wallet In Settlement Of Fair Housing Suit Accusing Co-Op Of Hassling Unit Owners About Having Assistance Animals

In Coney Island, Brooklyn, the New York Daily News reports:

• The feds are making sure Trump Village in Coney Island learns some new tricks about allowing emotional support dogs.
  
  The co-op built by the commander-in-chief's father has settled a case saying it refused to let residents live in peace with their support dogs, the Daily News has learned.
  
  Trump Village will pay $40,000 to three families and also pay a $10,000 civil penalty, according to Justice Department documents.
  
  President Trump has no ties to the site. His father, Fred, built the 1,144-unit development in the 1960s.
  
  Until around June 2015, Trump Village had a policy barring residents from keeping any animals.
  
  But the government found the co-op “did not have any policies or procedures for its residents to request reasonable accommodations to permit them to keep assistance animals."
  
  “Because Trump Village no longer prohibits residents from keeping animals, all residents who wish to have emotional support animals may do so,” the settlement stated.
  
  But if the rules change, and Trump Village once again bans animals, then the pact with the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's office makes it clear the place has to make an exception for support dogs.
  
  Brooklyn Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis signed off on the accord last week.
  
  The Fair Housing Act case zeroed in on incidents between May 2012 and March 2015. Court papers said the site's management tried evicting three residents who wouldn't capitulate on their canines.
  
  There were other forms of retaliation too, court papers say. Federal lawyers alleged Trump Village denied preferred parking spots and removed a woman from the board of directors who was married to an Army veteran with a support dog.
  
  Despite all the fuss, ultimately, no residents were separated from their pooches.
  
  A lawyer for Trump Village did not have an immediate comment, but the settlement papers said the development denied the allegations. A Brooklyn U.S. Attorney spokesman declined to comment.

Source: Trump Village co-op settles suit brought by residents barred from keeping support animals.